Finn #2
“What the hell is going on?” She looked even more beautiful in the glow of the moonlight.
I itched to pull her into my arms and kiss the hell out of her.
“What the hell, Finn?” she hollered, pulling me from my trance.
I crossed my arms over my chest and stood a little straighter. “Why didn’t you text me back?”
“Seriously,” she huffed. “You almost started a brawl in a bar because I didn’t respond to a text? Toxic much?”
“No. That was because I didn’t like seeing you with Dylan.”
Throwing her arms into the air, she let out a sardonic laugh. “You are insane. I’m not with Dylan.” She took a step closer, planting her hands on her hips. “He’s one of my oldest friends and a really nice guy.”
“Didn’t look that way.”
“What has gotten into you? Are you drunk?”
“No. I only had half a beer. I only want to talk to you. I can’t stop thinking about you.”
Pulling in a deep breath, I ran my hands through my hair, fighting the overwhelming urge to pull it out of my scalp. Lust and anger and hurt coursed through my veins. Dammit, I was butchering this whole situation.
This was not what Alicia meant when she advised me to be cool and take things slow with Adele. “Every minute of every day, I think about you and want you and crave you.”
Her head on a swivel, she scanned the parking lot to make sure no one was within earshot and took a step closer. Once the shouting had died down, it looked as though our audience had dispersed.
“We said it was one time. It was a mistake.” She avoided eye contact. A sure tell.
“Really?” I said, taking one big step and closing the distance between us.
Her breath hitched at my proximity, and I had to suppress a smile.
“Because it wasn’t a mistake for me,” I murmured. “I want more.”
She looked up at me, her eyes glassy. “You can’t have more.”
Slowly, I tilted her chin up and regarded her. “We’ll see about that.”
And then I leaned in and kissed her, taking her mouth gently but firmly. I intended this to be a brief kiss, nothing more than a chaste press of my lips against hers, but once our mouths touched, I couldn’t control myself.
I dove in, tunneling into her hair with one hand to get better access and grasping her ass with the other. Nothing made sense. I was acting on instinct. Alarm bells rang in my head, screaming mine over and over again, making it impossible to think rationally.
Because she was the opposite of passive, Adele fisted my shirt, pulling me closer and giving as good as she got.
God, this woman was made for me.
When my lungs were so deprived of oxygen I worried I would black out, I pulled back to take a breath. She was in my arms, panting, her entire body aware and awake.
I wanted her so badly.
“Come home with me,” she said, her hand resting on my belt buckle.
Yes, my dick cheered.
“No” is what came out of my mouth. Despite how I’d behaved tonight, a scrap of my dignity remained. So I took a step back to put some distance between us. “I’m not your secret fuck buddy.”
She gasped, her face a mask of bewilderment. If I had to guess, she was not in the habit of being turned down.
“If we do this again,” I rasped, “we do it for real. I don’t want second thoughts. I don’t want regrets.”
Her gaze cooled quickly, and her shoulders rose. Her defense mechanisms were kicking in. “Fine,” she spat, turning on her heel.
I grasped her wrist and spun her so she faced me again. “I want you to be mine. I know you’ve been burned. I know you’ve been with assholes who strung you along and didn’t want to commit.”
She rolled her eyes, but the immediate slump of her shoulders told me I was hitting her insecurities square in the jaw.
“But I’m not that kind of man,” I assured her. “I know what I want, and I go after it.” Releasing her wrist, I took a step back. “So call me when you’re ready to stop playing around.”
Without waiting for a response, I turned and walked away, leaving her there, in the parking lot, holding my shirt.
I had parked down the hill, and it took every ounce of self-control I had not to look back as I made the trek.
But I held strong. I wouldn’t settle for less than I deserved. No matter how much I craved her.
Slowly, I continued to my truck, breathing in the cool night air and willing my heart to settle.
At the edge of the parking area, I caught sight of my truck, along with something wholly unexpected.
I froze in place, and my heart rate immediately skyrocketed again. What the shit?
A huge moose was directly behind my tailgate, and it looked to be digging. It was pawing at the ground with its front hoof, sending dirt flying in every direction. Did moose dig? And why was this one digging a hole behind my truck?
The last thing I needed tonight was a flat tire or a sprained ankle, so I crouched behind a car, keeping a safe distance while I watched.
When he was satisfied with the hole he had dug, he leaned forward and pissed in it. Gross.
I had never seen a moose pee before, but it was horrifying. There wasn’t an area to pull around it, so I’d have to back up through it.
My stomach turned. After what had to have been five solid minutes of peeing, I was resigned to sacrificing my poor tires to get the hell out of here.
But no, he wasn’t finished.
Instead of walking away. The asshole stepped into the hole and kicked one back leg, then the other. Urine flew in all directions, splashing into the bed of my truck.
I fumbled for my phone, and when I wrestled it from my pocket, I turned on the flashlight. Maybe I could scare it away.
But he was undeterred, kicking it everywhere, all over himself and the surrounding cars. But my poor truck took the majority of the abuse.
Finally, he turned and ambled toward the forest. Holding up my phone, I shined the light on the beast. Sure enough, now that his other side was visible, it was obvious. He had a huge scar across his flank. Fucking Clive.
Why hadn’t someone shot this asshole yet? Why did the town continue to put up with him? This stunt alone had me itching to mount his head above my fireplace. Granted, my shitty apartment didn’t have a fireplace, but I’d find one for the occasion.
Eventually, I made my way to my truck, avoiding piss lake as best as I could and gagging at the smell of moose pee that coated the bed. Great. If I could afford a new truck, I’d trade this in tomorrow. Alas, I’d spend tomorrow scrubbing it obsessively.
Wasn’t this just par for the course? A moose outside the Moose. Where, only a few minutes ago, I’d had my heart stomped on in the parking lot. Where I’d pissed off her brothers and almost started an all-out brawl.
I couldn’t win.